"Yeji?"
The moment she spoke, I got angry. Was it because this is the first time I've seen her since? Is it to protect myself? To avoid a conversation with her? Whatever the answer, I shook my shoulder to knock her hand off. How did she have the nerve to touch me?
I couldn't see her face, nor did I want to. I think that bothered her. I heard her hesitate, say half of a word and then stop, repeating that. If she didn't know what to say then why waste my time?
"Can we talk?"
I scoffed. Have my tears stopped? If they have, I'd feel more comfortable turning around... but I can't tell the difference between my tears and the rain.
"Yeji? Please?"
What if I don't turn around? Does that show her she has control over my emotions? Or how will I feel if I come face to face with her this close? Will I be furious? Will I break down?
I blinked my eyes several times, hoping the redness in them will go unnoticed under this cloudy, dim-lit sky. If tears remained on my face, I hoped the rain could cover for me.
I turned around and confronted her.
"Holy shit! Is that Ryujin??" Lia peeked out the window.
"You're joking??" I rushed to the door, instantly looking through the peephole. Something smudged my view of the person outside but that didn't mean I couldn't see color. This person had a darker hair color. "Lia... Ryujin has pink hair."
"I don't know what you're seeing, but that's Ryujin." She peered once more through the curtains before looking back at me. "I might seriously be gay now."
My nose scrunched out of confusion. I opened the door, and sure enough, Lia was right. Still, Ryujin looked different. She cut her hair shorter and dyed it blue. She looked beautiful— No, more than that. She looked absolutely gorgeous. My heart started racing.
"I came to drop off the clothes you let me borrow."
"Oh." I accepted the clothes. I didn't want them back, not so soon. Thinking about how we left things off last time, returning them felt like things were somehow ending between us.
"Oh, by the way, how was your test?"
I didn't expect her to ask, but shouldn't I have? She did send me a good luck text. "I'm confident I passed."
"That's good to hear."
We stood there for a minute. Her cheeks puffed while she tapped her leg as she waited. God, she's so cute. But why was she waiting? Did she want me to continue the conversation? What should I have said? What could I have said?
"Well, I'll be going now."
"Okay." I said quietly, then shut the door behind her. I wanted to stop her. Part of me wanted to yell no and pull her back. If only I had the guts to do that.
"If you don't go after her, I might."
"Shush, Lia."
Was Lia into her back then? Did she fall for Ryujin before I did? After I did? Did she feel like Jiu at some point? Did she ever want to interfere? Was she only supporting my relationship because she wanted to see me and Ryujin happy? Is that why she was so determined to fix our problems? If true, didn't that mean she cared?
